Butte County CA Archives History - Books .....The Mining Industry 1882 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 17, 2005, 2:25 am Book Title: History Of Butte County THE MINING INDUSTRY. After the discovery by General Bidwell, on Feather river, and his subsequent settlement at Bid-well's bar, the miners ranged along the Feather and its tributaries in great numbers. In 1849, mining camps could be found at scores of places, the most important being at Bid well's and Long's bars. It became the rule for the miners to go to the mountains during the summer and work the beds of the small streams while they were dry. In the winter they came down to the foothills and the valleys, where the placer-mining would pay them from one to half-a-dozen, ounces per day. One of the first enterprises in wing-damming was opposite Oroville, called the Troy wing-dam. As brief references are made in the local histories to the kinds of mining done in the different townships, we will only allude to some of the discoveries and enterprises of a general character. Water is necessary to every kind of mining, and it became at a very early period an important problem to be solved—the bringing of water to the mining ground. In. 1852, the West Branch of Feather River Company was organized for the purpose of bringing water to Long's bar. The capital-stock was $200,000. The incorporators and managers were Derville and Theophilus Bequette, Hugh Bell and Alexander Coles. About the same time small ditch-companies were formed at Thompson's flat, and short ditches were constructed. In October of the same year the Wyandotte and Feather River Water Company was incorporated, the object being to construct a ditch from Forbestown to the mines at Wyandotte, Honcut, Ophir, Bagdad and vicinity. B. 0. and A. F.Williams. H. Richardson, Charles Marsh and Samuel Harriman were connected with it. The ditch was located by George W. Schults, in 1853. In 1854, the right was sold to the South Feather Water Company, and the ditch was constructed to Wyandotte the following year. This is the oldest ditch now in existence in the county. Its length is about thirty miles, and has prior right to any other ditch to water from the south Feather. In the winter of 1855—56, the Feather River and Ophir Water Company constructed their ditch to Oroville, and made that place the most important mining town in the state. [See History of Oroville.] In 1858, the Walker & Wilson ditch was completed to Thompson's flat; the canal was thirty-six miles in length, and drew its water-supply from Little Butte creek. [See History of Thompson's Flat.] A few other short ditches were built in the next few years. In 1861, there were eight mining ditches, aggregating 167 miles in length. In 1870, the Spring Valley Mining Company built its magnificent ditch, overcoming the obstacles presented by deep canons with a splendid system of pipes. [See History of Cherokee Mines.] The Hendricks ditch was also completed at this time. Some time after, E. J. Davis & Co. built, a ditch from Dog-town to Thompson's flat, which conveys 3,000 inches of water down the side of Table mountain; it is now owned by the Miocene company. For a description of the Sierra Lumber Company's flume, see the history of Chico. The flume of the Oroville Lumber Company was constructed in 1875, by the Sugar-Pine Lumber, Flume and Mining Company. The flume heads at Flee valley, in Concow township, and is twenty-five miles in length to the dump on Sinclair flat, near Pence's ranch. The flume has a fall of 3,500 feet. In 1881, there were forty mining and twenty-five irrigating ditches in Butte county. The mining ditches aggregate 501 miles in length, and the irrigating 200 miles. It is estimated that 10,000 inches of water are used daily from them. In May, 1854, mines in the vicinity of Bidwell were using canvas and rubber hose to wash the dirt out of the hills. The primitive hydraulicing had its inception with a two-inch canvas duck with a nozzle scarcely an inch in diameter. This was soon increased to a four-inch pipe with a two-inch nozzle. Improvements have gradually been made in size and material, until at present the pipe is of heavily-ribbed boiler-iron, eighteen or twenty inches in diameter, and the stream, usually about seven inches, is thrown through a machine that admits of management by one man with perfect ease, and can be moved from side to side, depressed or elevated, with great readiness. In Butte county, many nuggets of considerable size have been found. The kind of gold found at the old town of Evansville, in Wyandotte township, was invariably "coarse," being found in the form of nuggets of greater or less size. Some specimens found there have run over a thousand dollars each, and a great many have ranged among the hundreds. A piece weighing some fifteen hundred dollars, taken out near Stringtown in the spring of 1853, was never mentioned in print until alluded to by G. H. Crossette in his paper in 1878. It was found by an elderly man whose name is not now remembered, and who had left his family in the eastern states in 1849, to try his fortunes in the California mines. He had mined and prospected from the time of his arrival in the mines until the spring of 1853, with no more success than was necessary to a bare subsistence. His worldly goods were packed in a sack and carried on his shoulder. One day he trundled into a shaft that had been sunk to the depth of twelve feet and abandoned. Almost the first blow of his pick turned up a huge piece of gold in the shape of a beef's heart, of the value above stated. Of course he was greatly excited, and expected to be robbed of his treasure before reaching a bank where he could safely deposit it. Putting his prize in his sack, and telling no one of his good luck, he started for Marysville, where he arrived and sold it. This small sum was enough for him to raise a troublesome mortgage on his farm in Michigan, and the old man immediately left for the East. THE DOGTOWN NUGGET was the crowning glory of the big-chunk order in Butte county. In 1853, Phineas Willard located a claim two miles east of what is now Magalia, and worked it alone for some time. It was always pretty rich and paid well. In 1858, a company was formed, consisting of Wilhatl, Ira Wetherbee and Wyatt M. Smith. The claim was a hydraulic one, and they had one pipe in operation. On the fourteenth of August, 1850, while the proprietors were absent, Chaimcey Wright, one of the men employed, piped out a chunk weighing fifty-four pounds in the rough. The piece was in a slide from the side of the mountain. Ii-a Wetherbee was spending the day in Dogtown, when, in the afternoon, several of his men came in hurriedly, picked him up from his chair and set him on the counter. Thinking a terrible calamity had befallen somebody, Wetherbee inquired, in alarmed tones, what was the matter. They told him he would have to treat before he could find out. This preliminary matter being adjusted, the news was broken gently to him, after which high carnival was held all night. Dr. Stearns was superintending the mine, and the following notice was sent to George H. Crossette, at Oroville:— " DOGTOWN, 14th August, 1859. " EDITOR OF BUTTE RECORD—Sir: Messrs. Willard & Co. to-day took out of their claim one small nugget, weighing the small sum of fifty-four (54) pounds, and fifty (50) oz. fine gold. Pretty good pay, this. Beat it who can? The claim is superintended by our worthy citizen, Dr. A. K. Stearns." The chunk was taken to San Francisco and melted into a bar which weighed forty-nine and one-half pounds, and netted $10,690. The fine gold taken out that day amounted to $3,000, making an entire yield for the day of $13,690. This claim was owned by Wetherbee, Willard and Smith until 1861. During the years 1855, '56, '57, heavy fluming operations were carried on. along the Feather river, between Oroville and Bidwell's bar. The Rough and Ready and Sailor claim, near White Rock, panned out largely, but the Cape claim of 1857 produced richer dirt and more of it for the season than any other. The river was flumed about a mile and a half above Oroville, A. S. Hart being contractor of the works. One day during the season, with six sluices running, one hundred and forty-two pounds of pure gold were taken out in twenty-four hours. The days' work netted $30,672, of which $24,000 came from one sluice. On the same day John P. Norton washed from one pan of dirt fifty-two ounces. There were taken out and reported during the season upwards of $330,000. In 1858, the Union Cape company flumed the river just below, but failed to make more than the cost of the flume. Below that, in 1859, the golden channel was flumed. Some years ago the California Dredging and Mining Company dredged the river near Oroville, by a boat with suction-pipes. Another boat, one hundred and twenty feet long and thirty feet wide, was constructed by the Feather River Mining Company, of which J. M. Burt was president, but none of these enterprises were lucrative. The gold product of Butte county for four months in the year 1873 was $1,036,000, showing that the county's resources were but little depleted by the huge drains of former years. "We proceed to a brief resume of the mining operations now carried on in Butte. It will be seen that mining is rather increasing, notwithstanding the check given to the hydraulic mines by the debris contest. PLACER MINING. This class of mining is of far more importance in Butte county than quartz, and, with the exception of the lava-beds near Oroville, the dirt is washed, or has been until recently, by the hydraulic chief, though a number of good claims are being worked by the drifting process. The principal hydraulic mines in Butte county, together with the works in each, are described in the following:— THE MIOCENE MINING COMPANY, of New York, succeeded to E. J. Davis & Co. in the claim opposite Oroville, extending to Thompson's flat. Work was commenced in March, 1881. The company have thirty-four miles of ditch, carrying 3,000 inches of water from the west branch of Feather, the head-dam being at Dogtown. N. A. Harris is superintendent, and F. McLaughlin resident vice-president. In the mine there are over 5,000 feet of pipe. A line of telephone connects the head-dam with the offices. THE POWERS MINE, owned by the Oroville Mining and Irrigating Company, is situated opposite Oroville, on the eastern end of the Fernandez grant, and comprises over 1,500 acres. Water is obtained from Little Butte creek, and conveyed to the claim by thirty miles of ditch. O. P. Powers is superintendent. The ditch was formerly known as the Walker & Wilson. THE HEWITT MINE lies along the south-east edge of Oroville, and is owned by the Oroville Mining Company. J. B. Hewitt is superintendent and one-third owner of the mine. Water is obtained from the Feather river and Ophir ditch, which is twenty-two miles long, and carries 3,000 inches. [See History of Oroville.] THE HENDRICKS MINE, owned by the Morris Ravine Mining Company, of Indiana, is situated in Morris ravine. W. C. Hendricks was original locator, and ran it alone for about ten years, when, in 1876, the present company took possession. Nearly fifty miles of ditch are used, the water being brought from the west branch, near Powellton. Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, is largely interested in the mine. THE SOUTH FEATHER WATER AND UNION MINING COMPANY has a mine at Forbestown, on the divide between Butte and Yuba counties. The company owns also the Forbestown ditch, alluded to at the beginning of this article. Water is taken from the south fork of Feather river for use in the mine. THE MINERAL SLIDE MINE, on Big Butte creek, has recently been opened. John D. Lament is superintendent. The company intends to impound its debris by building dams, and work for that purpose has already been commenced. RED HILL HYDRAULIC COMPANY has a claim on the west branch of Feather river, above Magalia. The company was incorporated in 1874. Four miles of flume and two chiefs are utilized. Captain J. L. Chadwick has had charge of the property for many years. T. L. VINTON & Co.'s claim is situated near Pence's ranch, on Sinclair flat. Considerable hydraulic mining has been done there. FROST AND LUDLUM COMPANY have a nourishing hydraulic mine on the south branch of Feather river. There are many other hydraulic claims of lesser size, which our space will not allow us to enumerate. A company organized in 1879, called the Edison Ore Milling Company, has its office in Oroville. Frank McLaughlin is manager, and C. Harkness, secretary. The object is to work by Professor Edison's system what is known as tailings, coming from flumes of hydraulic mines. Electricity is used in separating the gold from the sand. The results of this system are said to be wonderful. Professor Edison is a stockholder in the company. THE CHEROKEE MINE. This magnificent consolidation of many claims is the most successful result of hydraulic labors in Butte county, and one of the finest institutions of the kind in the state, or in the world. It is owned by the Spring Valley Hydraulic Gold Company, incorporated under the laws of the state of New York. The original companies absorbed into this mammoth aggregation were the Cherokee company, the Spring Valley company, the Eureka, the Table Mountain Consolidated, the Welch, and the Cherokee Flat Blue Gravel, each of which were formed from combinations of smaller companies. The Spring Valley company was organized in the year 1870. In 1873, it consolidated with the Cherokee mining company, and became the most important in that region. In 1875, the Cherokee, Table Mountain and Welch were added, and a new association incorporated on the sixteenth of August, known as the Spring Valley Mining and Irrigating Company, with a capital stock of $5,000,000. The original Spring Valley company has the credit of bringing in the water, the first source of water supply being from Big Butte creek. The new company expended a vast amount in building reservoirs, ditches, flumes, crossing precipitous canons with iron pipe to convey water, and in generally developing the mine. Louis Glass was secretary, and Richard Abbey president. The Cherokee Blue Flat Gravel Company was the next in importance. Charles Waldeyer had for many years been superintendent. They ran a tunnel into the hill to reach the blue-gravel lead. On the other side was the Spring Valley working its hydraulic chiefs to reach the same lead, which they did first. Early in the spring of 1881 both companies consolidated and formed the present company. A brief glance at the extent of the operations may not be uninteresting. This mine now includes the very ground on which Cherokee is situated, and embraces over rive hundred acres. The banks at which the powerful chiefs or giants are directed, in some places are nearly three hundred feet high, yet a bluff even of this height steadily recedes before the irresistible element brought so far to attack it. The company owns arid operates no less than one hundred miles of ditch, pipe and flume. The principal source from which water is obtained is in the northern part of Kimshew township, from Butte creek. At Concow valley it overflows into a reservoir covering three hundred acres. The total length of this ditch is fifty-two miles. Another one fifteen miles in length flows into the reservoir, and a third, the Miner's ditch, is twenty miles in length. On the main ditch are three sections of iron pipe. One crossing the west branch of the Feather river is 13,100 feet long, thirty inches in diameter, and has a perpendicular depression of 890 feet, with a pressure to the square inch of 406 pounds. Further up the stream the water crosses it again, being conveyed by a section of pipe 3,600 feet in length. At Little Butte 1,200 feet more of pipe are used. The heaviest iron used in making the pipe at its lowest depression, is three-eighths of an inch in thickness. The total cost of ditches and pipes was in the neighborhood of $750,000. The water was first brought to Cherokee in 1870. Foreseeing the trouble that would arise from dumping their tailings into the river, the Spring Valley company purchased the right of way for a canal to the southwest, expending large amounts for the agricultural lands, and in some cases paying exorbitant prices to men who knew that they must have it. Levees were constructed along the canal for a great distance, until it empties into Dry creek. For a distance of forty miles the company owns the land on either side of the water-course, embracing an area of 23,000 acres. The total cost of the ranch property and improvements was 8582,000. This is not owned by the present hydraulic company, who only purchased of the S. V. M. & I. company their mining property. The hydraulic company owns thirteen hundred acres of mining land. The names of their reservoirs are the Concow, the Wasteweir, the Hutchinson, and the Round Valley. They contain 355,000,000 cubic yards of water. Sixteen hydraulic giants, having nozzles from five to eight inches in diameter, are constantly at work day and night, and not a moment is lost that can be utilized in washing out the precious metal. Forty million gallons of water are used daily, and it is a curious fact that three times the water supply of San Francisco is required in this mine. The only day in twelve years that the employes of the mine ceased work was the nineteenth of September, 1881, when, the remains of the martyred president were deposited in the Cleveland cemetery. An average of one hundred and eighty men have been on the pay-roll for a long time. The mine is illuminated at night by electricity, and presents a brilliant and busy scene. Lines of telephone, connect the distant reservoirs and other works with the offices. Charles Waldeyer, who has lived at Cherokee for more than a quarter of a century, is superintendent, and Louis Glass secretary. The presidential party, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, Gen. Sherman and wife, and several other notabilities, who came to the coast in 1880, visited the Cherokee mine. The hydraulic company do their own amalgamating, and run as large bars as any mine in the United States. A single bar has been cast, weighing 317 pounds, and valued at 874,490.63. The quality of the gold runs from 973 to 983 fine. The gold product of the Spring Valley claim alone, from 1870 to 1880, was 82,650,809.18. In 1878, 8315,000 were taken out. THE TREASURE Box is a drift claim on Table mountain, on sections 31 and 32, township 20 north, and section 5 of township 19 north, of range 4 east. The company was incorporated in July, 1881; Major McLaughlin became manager, and N. A. Harris superintendent. A tunnel was begun on the fifteenth of July, since which time an average of seventy feet a week have been excavated. It is now over two thousand feet in the mountain, and, when completed, will be a mile in length. The company expects to strike a strata of blue gravel similar to that in the Spring Valley mine. THE SOUTH GOLD KING, on the top of Table mountain, above Oregon City, was located by W. L. Perkins and Dr. Parker. Arthur Johnston is manager. There is an inclined shaft in the mine, one hundred and fifty feet in depth. THE MAGALIA is an exceedingly rich drift claim, about two and one-half miles from Dogtown. It was located twenty-five years ago, and then known as the Barrack claim. A few years ago it was purchased by the Magalia Company. From five to six thousand dollars per week have lately been taken out, with only eight men employed. THE BIG BEND TUNNEL. The "Big Bend" of the north fork of Feather river has long been the object of many plans to drain the river-bed, and thus realize the wealth within its bed. The project of turning the river aside from its natural channel has often been canvassed, but, owing to lack of means, no definite action was ever taken until within the last two years. In 1880, Col. J. C. Logan, of Oakland, and Major Frank McLaughlin, of New York, became interested in a plan to drain the "Big Bend," and took prompt action to get it into shape. The late John D. Barry, a prominent engineer of San Francisco, made a careful examination of the country, and made a favorable report to the gentlemen interested. Upon this report, steps were taken to procure a United States patent to the land, and James McGann, U. S. deputy surveyor, with a corps of assistants, after wandering through the canon of the river for twenty days, completed the survey of the "Big Bend," and, in the fall of 1881, a patent was obtained. Afterwards, Hon. R. V. Pierce, of Buffalo, New York, and other prominent gentlemen, became interested in the property, and the gentlemen organized the Big Bend Tunnel and Mining Company, with offices at Buffalo, New York. By consulting the accompanying map, the reader will easily see, at a glance, what the company propose to do. Starting at Whiskey bar, a tunnel will be run through the main ridge of the mountains, in a southwesterly direction, until Dark canon is reached, a distance of 11,600 feet. At Whiskey bar a dam will be thrown across the river, causing the waters to flow into the tunnel, from thence into Dark canon, and thence back into the main river. By this means, the entire river-bed, from Whiskey bar to the junction of the north fork and west branch, a distance of about fourteen miles, will be exposed. It is expected that the tunnel will develop many rich veins of quartz, as the country is known to be rich in quartz claims; thus adding another source of profit to the company. It is not to be supposed that, once having gained control of so vast a volume of water as flows in the north fork, that it will be allowed to run to waste. As a subsidiary project, canals will be built, conducting the water down to the valley lands, and thus make productive vast areas of lands now unused. The present company are now engaged in building roads, houses, and doing preliminary work, under superintendency of N. A. Harris, preparatory to commencing work on the tunnel; and it can be safely said that the work will be prosecuted with all the speed that money and energy can give to a successful completion. The advantages which Oroville will derive from the prosecution of this work will be immense; and we are pleased to see that such clear-headed gentlemen as Major Frank McLaughlin and Col. J. C. Logan have gone into the enterprise with characteristic vim, for it is to them that all credit is due, they having gone to considerable expense, toil and trouble to secure this great property. As a guarantee of the success of this great undertaking, we would refer to Major Mclaughlin's success in building and bringing to a successful completion the great ditch and flume system of the Miocene Mining Company, which opened up the historical country at Thompson flat; and to the success now attending his great tunnel enterprise, known as the "Treasure Box," to open up the gravel deposits under the South Table mountain. QUARTZ MINING. This kind of mining began very early in Butte county. In 1850, numerous ledges were being worked in Oregon township, and in the territory now embraced by Concow. Two years later, quartz mining became the rage all over the state, and the ventures in Butte were legion. Great amounts were expended in tunnels, shafts, arastras and quartz-mills, but, as a rule, the ledges proved unremunerative. The excitement over quartz lasted about two years, when the zeal for smashing rocks somewhat abated. In the spring of 1854, there were thirteen quartz companies in the county, with an aggregate capital stock of $1,056,000. A few of these ledges, however, have proved very rich, and made money for their proprietors. The "49 and 56," and several other quartz ledges in Concow township, have produced since the start $800,000 or more; and the Trojan ledge, in Oro township, was very rich. Another, the Banner ledge, we notice at some length: THE BANNER LEDGE.—This celebrated quartz ledge is now the property of the Banner Gold Mining company, and the Minerva Gold and Silver Mining company. Not only is the old Banner mine the oldest of the kind in the county, but it has yielded greater returns and is yet believed to possess richer quartz deposits than any other. The Banner ledge is situated in Oregon gulch, six miles from Oroville. It was originally located in 1850 by a company of twenty-two persons, E. N. Sparks and M. H. Smith being of the number. In 1852, Messrs. Smith and Sparks bought out the interests of all the others. A shaft was sunk in 1853 and the rock taken out was crushed by a spring-mortar. The prospects were so encouraging that four arastras were constructed and worked by horse-power for about a year, when a twelve-stamp mill was built in 1854 and run by water-power. The water failed in 1855, and then four arastras worked by steam were substituted. In 1856, a twelve-stamp, steam mill was built and run until 1859, yielding while it worked the large sum of $640,000. The extent of the original Banner mine was 3,300 feet; extensions of 3,400 feet on the ledge were located some years ago, called the Southern Extension California. These, with Amoskey and Clark and Coffey, two parallel ledges, were located afterwards, and the Banner consolidated with them, obtaining a United States patent under the name of the Minerva Gold and Silver Mining Company, with a nominal capital of $3,000,000. The whole of the property subsequently passed into the hands of Joseph French, of San Francisco, and was held by him until 1878, when measures were taken to re-open the original Banner mine. The old mine was purchased of the Minerva company, and another company, the Banner, was incorporated in 1879, with a capital stock of $10,000,000. Work was done on it on quite a liberal scale until 1881, when it was shut down and sold under foreclosure. The shaft is down three hundred feet. At one, two and three-hundred-feet levels, tunnels penetrate the bowels of the mountain. The company also has a sixteen-stamp quartz-mill, put up in 1879. When sufficient capital is put into the mine to develop it properly, as will doubtless soon occur, the inexhaustible riches of the Banner ledge will be brought to the surface. E. R. Burke is superintendent. The Minerva company, under the administration of Mr. French, expended a large sum of money in developing their property. In 1879, he died and the whole property was bought from his executors by W. E. Duncan of New York. The company is now working with very flattering prospects, making use of the latest improvements in machinery and skill. Accidents in the mines frequently occur, which endanger both life and limb. We relate an instance of the kind that may be of interest:— On the morning of November 26, 1859, the sudden caving in of the tunnel in this ledge buried two men alive. We present the account of the accident as it appeared in the Butte Democrat of that period: "At nine o'clock on the morning of the twenty-sixth of November, a portion of the tunnel in the quartz claim of Messrs. Smith & Sparks, at Table mountain, caved in, entombing alive, probably within the tunnel, two of the workmen—David Shine and F. G. Mathews. On this claim there is a shaft one hundred and sixty-five feet in depth, at the bottom of which was the engine which raised the dirt and rocks, and drained another tunnel one hundred feet below the engine. The two unfortunate men were at work in the lower tunnel, when the earth immediately under the engine caved in, filling the outlet of the tunnel, rendering the engine useless, and all efforts to rescue them unavailing. It is supposed that the tunnel must have filled with water within twenty-four hours after the accident. "One cannot readily imagine a more horrid death than to be shut up, hopeless of escape, in the very bowels of the earth, one hundred and sixty-five feet beneath the surface, in utter darkness, with the water gradually rising, and a lingering death about to ensue, and ensuing. "We understand that it was against the wishes of the proprietors of the claim that the two men entered the tunnel on the morning of the catastrophe, as the heavy rains had so saturated the ground, fears were entertained of such an event as happened. But one of the men was extremely anxious to give one more blast, confidently expressing the belief that he would thereby reach a lost vein of quartz. On the slope of the mountain, above the shaft alluded to, four or five acres have sunk three or four feet." Twenty years after, the long sleep of the miners was disturbed, and their skeletons found in their deep resting-place. The discovery occasioned a great deal of excitement, and many visited the spot. The remains lay upon a pile of dirt thrown back from the face of the drift. The empty skull of one was by his side, while that of the other had rolled down the dirt-pile and found a resting-place at the owner's feet. Picks, drills and shovels were all neatly piled together, as though the brave men, realizing that escape was impossible, had put their house in order prior to closing up their earthly accounts. The men were undoubtedly suffocated by foul air. Evidences were seen that they had endeavored to dig their way out, but at last gave up in despair. The Oroville Mercury of August 1, 1879, contained a graphic description of the "chamber of death." A curious incident connected with the affair was the holding an inquest over the remains and rendering an official verdict, twenty years after the death of the unfortunates. THE ORO MINING COMPANY was incorporated in 1872, with George C. Perkins as president, and A. Maurice, Jr., as secretary. D. K. Perkins is now president, and L. D. Freer secretary. The claim is located on the south fork of Feather river, three and one-half miles from Enterprise. The old Trojan ledge was worked in 1870, at which time a shaft was sunk two hundred feet in depth. It made the owners rich, and the work was abandoned all at once, on account of insufficient machinery. The present company commenced a tunnel in 1872, being convinced that the rich quartz could be more easily reached in that way. E. W. Slater has had the contract, ever since, of running the tunnel, which is now nine hundred feet in the solid rock. A five-stamp quartz-mill was built in 1870 by the old company, which is now owned by Mr. Slater. The tunnel has already passed the point where it was estimated would be the Trojan ledge, but the company believes a miscalculation has been made. Three ledges have been pierced by the tunnel. THE FORBESTOWN CONSOLIDATED Quartz Mill and Mining Company is a consolidation of the quartz claims near Forbestown, and owns eight different ledges. H. E. Vail is superintendent. A ten-stamp quartz-mill was built in 1873. THE SKIPPER quartz mine, a mile and a half above Dogtown, is owned and operated by Dr. Burwell. The mine was opened in 1875, by the Skipper Gold Mining Company, but afterwards purchased by Burwell. In the mine are three tunnels—one hundred and fifty-five, two hundred and twenty-five and two hundred and fifty feet in length, respectively. There is a ten-stamp quartz-mill, built in 1876 by the Skipper company. Many other quartz operations are in progress in Butte county, most of which are noted at length in the local histories. We have noticed some of the more important mines, in this chapter, to show the general extent of quartz mining in the county. CHEROKEE DIAMONDS. In May, 1864, a miner found three diamonds while excavating at Cherokee flat. George E. Smith purchased them of the miner and sent the rough specimens to a Boston lapidary, who pronounced them genuine, and proceeded to cut and polish them. Some excitement was caused by the discovery, and miners kept a sharp lookout for precious stones after that. The first five diamonds found were worth $375. More or less of them have been found since, numbering sixty in all. The last one was found on the first of August, 1879, and was valued in the rough at sixty dollars. These stones are very pure and valuable, weighing from one-half to two-and-one-half karats. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF BUTTE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, IN TWO VOLUMES. I. HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA FROM 1513 TO 1850. BY FRANK T. GILBERT. The Great Fur Companies and their Trapping Expeditions to California. Settlement of the Sacramento Valley. The Discovery of Gold in California. BY HARRY L. WELLS. II. HISTORY OF BUTTE COUNTY, From its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. BY HARRY L. WELLS AND W. L. CHAMBERS. BOTH VOLUMES ILLUSTRATED WITH VIEWS AND PORTRAITS. HARRY L. WELLS, 517 CLAY STREET, SAN FRANCISCO 1882. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1882, by HARRY L. WELLS, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. FRANCIS, VALENTINE & Co., Engravers & Printers 517 Clay St., San Francisco File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/butte/history/1882/historyo/miningin54nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/ File size: 33.4 Kb